![]() Because of the melodrama in the rest of the films, the lighter nature of Star Wars 77 has not been replicated entirely in any of the other installments. ![]() No single Star Wars adventure since 1977 has contained the same “devil-may-care” quality, with the possible exception of Donald Glover’s version of Lando in Solo: A Star Wars Story. It’s impossible to think about the franchise like this now. The characters have the same devil-may-care attitude. In 1977, when Harrison Ford was asked if he considered the film to be like a “road picture” in the style of “Bing Crosby,” he said, “Sure. The central feeling of Star Wars 77 was impossible to recapture after Empire. (This was true of The Force Awakens, too.) ![]() The subversive nature of Empire was so effective that when it came time for Return of the Jedi in 1983, the franchise was so devoid of ideas that another Death Star was required to power the plot of the film. Post- Empire, everything about the Star Wars saga became imbued with psychological ruminations about dysfunctional families. But it also injured the reputation of Star Wars 77 irreparably. In fact, it’s one of the greatest films of all time. The cast of Star Wars 77 before the sequels. But the only Star Wars film you can totally enjoy without thinking about the rest of the franchise’s movies is Star Wars 77. Even random Star Trek movies are enjoyable as standalones. And you can’t do this with any other Star Wars movie. It’s much more entertaining to watch it as a standalone movie. In other words, thinking about Star Wars 77 as part of the Star Wars saga makes it less fun. You don’t want to say George Lucas is a liar, but the larger point is if you watch Star Wars 77 and all you’re thinking about is connecting it to the following two sequels, it makes the movie harder to watch. It’s impossible to prove that he always intended to make Vader Luke’s father because he insists today that he did. “Thinking about Star Wars 77 as part of the Star Wars saga makes it less fun.” Lucas (and Lawrence Kasdan) swooped in and changed the basic story when Brackett passed away before finishing the screenplay. Lucas farmed out the writing of The Empire Strikes Back to fantasy novelist Leigh Brackett, and her early drafts suggest that Anakin and Vader were not the same person. But much of that is muddied through the paper trail. You can make a billion arguments that all of these things might be the case because Lucas couldn’t do what he wanted with Star Wars 77.
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